Economic production, in particular agricultural production, is the major user of water in Australia and so exerts pressure on this finite resource.

Water quality is strongly linked to land management practices such as land clearance and soil degradation, while much of our biodiversity depends on healthy freshwater ecosystems. For example, increasing river salinity caused by dryland salinity can result in water becoming too saline for drinking or irrigation. It can also kill streamside vegetation. This, in turn, can increase erosion in river banks, which can cause further deterioration in water quality and loss of aquatic species.